Hydraulic compressor



2 sheets-sheet 1 il I C. DAUB HYDRAULIC, COMPRESSOR Filed Jan. 15, 1936 1:: iii

F eb. 23, 193 7.

INVENTOR. 694A; 5; 0,405. [I

3 o ATTORNEY.

Feb. 23, 1937. c. DAUB HYDRAULIC COMPRESSOR Filed Jan. 15, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 01A m E6 17/? 1/5.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 23, 1937 UNi'iE 3 Claims.

One object of this invention is the provision of a compressor adapted to pump air into a storage tank by utilizing a water head provided by a natural body of water such as a river, stream, or lake.

Another object of the invention is the provision of such a compressor in the form of multiple-power units provided with means for regulating the units so that they will pump alternately into the storage tank.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a novel form of drain valve to adjustably vary the rate of flow of drain water out of the compressor.

The above and other objects will become apparent in the description below, in which characters of reference refer to like-named parts in the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is an elevational view of the compressor partly in cross-section and partly schematic.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional elevational view of the air inlet valve used with the compressor.

Figure 3 is a similar, but fragmentary, view of 25 the drain valve used with the compressor.

4L0 lying near the bottom Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line i-Ll of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary plan view of Figure 4, illustrating the locking means for the valvelifting control of the valve shown in Figure 3.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral ill indicates a hollow casing divided into two compartments II and l2 which are separated by a partition wall IS. The casing id is mounted at a distance below the water supply source 14. Inlet pipes l5 carry water from the supply source into the casing it). Each compartment l l and I2 is provided with a float-operated cut-off valve it, the mouth of the inlet pipe it of the casing iii and being indicated at. IT. An air-inlet tube l8 extends into the compartment through the bottom of the casing l and is provided with a tandem valve l9, illustrated in detail in Figure 2. Also mounted at the bottom of the casing and having its mouth lying within the casing, is a tandem drain valve 20 illustrated in detail in Figures 3, 4, and 5.

The air control valve l9 illustrated in Figure 2,

50 comprises a pair of valve housings 2i and 22,

5 which provides a seat for the lower joined in series by a union 23. A flange 24 inside the union 23, provides a seat for the valve 25 in the housing 2!. A neck 26 is mounted at the bottom of the housing 22 and has a flange 21 valve 28.

Each valve is provided with an upwardly extending sleeve 29, and each of these sleeves is slidably guided in a spider 35. The valve stem 3! is threadably anchored in the sleeve 29 of the lower valve 28, and the stem passes slidably through the upper valve 25 and its sleeve 29. A collar 32 is mounted rigidly on the stem 3! at a short distance below the valve 25 when the latter is seated.

It is obvious that both valves 25 and 28 will nor mally remain seated by their own weight. If, however, a suction is created at the mouth 33 of the tandem'valve, both valves will beraised and the lower valve will carry up with it the valve stem 36. In case, through long use, any foreign particle should get clogged on the seat of one of the two valves, the other will nevertheless seat tightly.

The drain valve 29 comprises a pair of valve housings Sid and 35 joined by a union 35. A flange 3'2 within the union 36, is provided with a substantially conical valve seat 38. A valve 39 of similar conformation is slidably mounted on the valve stem iii and is adapted to open or close the passage through the union 3%. The upper rim of the valve seat 33 is beveled at 3i, and the valve 39 is provided with a rubber gasket or washer of similar conformation which is adapted to seal the opening tightly when the valve is fully seated. A collar 42 is rigid on the valve stem 4d just below the valve 39 when the latter is seated. A neck 33 at the bottom of the housing 35 is provided with a flange 4! which provides a conical valve seat similar to that above-mentioned. The valve i is also identical to the valve 39 with the exception that the valve stem Ml is rigidly anchored in the valve 44. A pin 45 is rotatably mounted transversely in the housing 35 and has keyed thereon a pair of spaced-apart cam ears it, the valve stem ii! passing between these cams. The pin it is provided with a clearance space t? at one end and is surrounded by a coiled spring at. As is apparent in Figure 4, the spring 43 normally urges the pin 45 upward (Figure 4). The outer end of the pin it? is provided with a hand wheel 59. A collar 50 is provided integrally with the housing 35 around the pin i5 and its peripheral edge is serrated, as shown at St. The hand wheel i9 is likewise provided with a serrated collar 52. It is obvious that the spring t8 will normally urge serrations 5! and 52 into mutual engagement so that the hand wheel 49 and consequently the pin 45, will be locked against the valve housing.

To vary the rate of flow of water downward through the valve 20, the hand wheel 49 is first pulled out and then rotated, thereby varying the distance between the top surface of the valve 44 and the cams 46. In view of the sharply conical conformation of both valves 39 and 44 and their valve seats, is is obvious that by limiting the amount of possible rise of the valves above their seats by means of the cams 46, the flow of water through the valves may be finely adjusted within the range of a very small rate of flow to a substantially large rate when the valves are free to open fully.

Within the casing l0, each valve stem 40 is extended upward in the form of a rod 53 which has mounted on its upper end a float 54. A guide 55 prevents disalignment of the rod 53. On top of the casing ii) a cross beam 56 is pivotally mounted on a pedestal 57 and from each end thereof a pivoted arm 58 depends and is slidable through the roof of the casing Iii. At its bottom, each arm 58 has a cup 59 of substantially the same spherical contour as the float 54. From each compartment ii and i2, a pipe 6% exhausts into a storage tank iii. The pipes 66 are provided with double check valves 62 of conventional design.

The operation of the device is as follows:

When water is permitted to flow through the pipe l5 into the compartment H, assuming that the compartment at the beginning of the flow is empty, the water will begin to rise in the compartment. As the level of the water rises in the compartment, since the valve'ifi is closed, the air contained therein will be forced upward in to the storage tank 6!. The float-operated valve I6 is so adjusted that it will begin to gradually cut off the inflow at the time that the level of the water within the compartment begins to raise the float 54. When the float 5Q begins to rise, it slowly lifts the valve 44 from its seat but doesnt at first lift the valve 39. As the cut-off valve l5 gradually closes further, while the Water level continues to rise'slowly, the valve 44 opens wider, and after a time the collar 42 lifts the valve 39 to open the latter a short distance also. By the time the valve as is lifted to a point at which the flow therethrough will be more or less substantial, the valve i5 closes. As the level of the water then falls,because of the overflowthrough the valve 2li,a suction will be created in the compartment above the water level, thereby causing the valve I9 to open to let air into the compartment. As the water flows out through the valve 29, the level will fall to a point where the valve 86 again opens to permit inlet water to flow into the compartment. The operation is thereupon repeated and continues automatically.

The cross beam 56 serves to permit alternate pumping of air into the storage tank by the compartments l i and i2. At the time of starting the operation of the device, when the compartments ll and ii? are both empty of water, one end of the beam 55 is depressed and kept depressed in any desirable manner or by any desirable means,

: while water flows into both compartments through the inlet pipes l5. Thus the float in that compartment where the beam is being kept depressed, will be unable to rise'at the time that the water level has risen sufliciently to otherwise lift the float. When the float in the other compartment, which is free to rise, has risen sufliciently to open its valve 2?] (which can be noticed by the click of the check valve 62 over that compartment as the check valve closes), then the pressure on the beam 56 is removed so that the formerly restricted float is free to rise and will rise to open its valve fully while the float in the other compartment is beginning its descent. Thereafter one float 54 will always be rising while the other is descending. Gate valves, not shown, may be mounted in the drain pipes 63 to be closed when the device is not in use.

Obviously, modifications in form and structure may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, a hollow casing having a water inlet and a water outlet, a float-operated shut-off valve in said inlet, a drain valve in said outlet, an air exhaust at the top of said casing, an air inlet valve, said drain valve having a stem rising into said casing from the bottom thereof, a float on the top of said stem, said drain valve having means operated by said last-named float to open said drain valve on lifting its float by the rising water level in said casing and to close the same on falling of said water level and said last-named float, said drain valve having means for varying the degree of opening thereof.

2. In a device of the class described, a hollow casing having a water inlet and a water outlet, a float-operated shut-off valve in said inlet, a drain valve in said outlet, an air exhaust at the top of said casing, an air inlet valve, said drain valve having a stem rising into said casing from the bottom thereof, a float on the top of said stem, said drain valve having means operated by said last-named float to open said drain valve on lifting its float by the rising water level in said casing and to close the same on falling of said water level in said last-named float, said drain valve comprising a housing having a conical valve seat formed therein, a conical valve slidably mounted above said seat, said valve stem being anchored in said conical valve, cams pivotally mounted at right angles to and above the upper surface of said conical valve, means for rotating said cams to raise or lower the same with respect to said surface, and means for locking said rotating means.

3. In a device of the class described, a hollow casing having a Water inlet and a water outlet, a float-operated shut-off valve in said inlet, a drain valve in said outlet, an air exhaust at the top of said casing, an air inlet valve, said drain valve having a stem rising into said casing from the bottom thereof, a float on the top of said stem, said drain valve having means operated by said last-named float to open said drain valve on lifting its float bythe rising water level in said casing and to close the same on falling of said water level and said last-named float, said drain valve comprising a housing having a conical valve seat formed therein, a conical valve slidably mounted above said seat, said valve stem being anchored in said conical valve, cams mounted at right angles to and above the upper surface of said conical valve, a pin rotatably mounted in said housing at right angles to said cams and having said cams rigid thereon, a hand wheel on said pin outside said housing, said housing having a serrated collar surrounding said pin, said hand wheel having a serrated collar adapted to register in said housing collar to lock said cams in adjustably fixed position, and resilient means urging said hand wheel collar against said housing collar.

CHARLES DAUB. 

